Fujitsu Limited and INESA has announced that they are collaborating on a Smart Manufacturing Project known as “Made in China 2025,”[1] a strategic framework which aims to strengthen competitiveness in manufacturing.
In response to the rapid changes in corporate business models and the market environment, the government of China has set forth “Made in China 2025”, which aims to combine cutting-edge ICT with manufacturing, shifting China from a manufacturing giant that mass-produces products to a manufacturing powerhouse that focuses on production quality. In the midst of this effort, using their abundant experience in the ICT and manufacturing fields, Fujitsu and INESA Group are jointly promoting their Smart Manufacturing Project, contributing to realizing the “Made in China 2025” plan.
As a member of a group of large-scale, state-run companies under the jurisdiction of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shanghai Municipal Government, INESA Group has a history in the electronics manufacturing industry of more than fifty years. In order to adapt to the innovations of recent years, INESA Group, while manufacturing, is driving the development of the information industry, and has established the strategic goal of contributing to the building of smart cities as its business model, working to create a new industry that fuses ICT and manufacturing.
At a color-filter manufacturing plant of INESA Display Materials Co., Ltd., an INESA Group company, Fujitsu established a plan to turn the plant into a smart factory suited to current operations, by studying current processes and issues. Based on information from existing automated production lines and manufacturing management systems, Fujitsu is connecting the entire manufacturing process, including product manufacturing processes and production line placement, with technologies, such as big data and IoT. This is to achieve digital transformation, building a system that visualizes the efficiency of the factory with the use of tools such as Fujitsu’s sensors, network technologies, a dashboard solution, and a big data analysis platform, to advance INESA Group’s move toward smart manufacturing.
The three companies began this project in January of 2016, and aim to complete it in 2018. In the first stage of this project, Fujitsu organized and improved INESA Group’s existing information systems, advanced the deployment of IoT in the factory, and built a big data analysis platform. As a result, it has become possible to share data within the factory and visualize operations in real time. The constructed platform will support higher levels of factory intelligence in the future.
The specific initiatives implemented under the current project are as follows:
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“Figure: Overview of smart manufacturing project”
Building IoT platforms that utilize data in the factory
Using Fujitsu’s unique intelligent network communications technologies, the companies have improved the slow and unstable communication in the existing large-scale network, building a low-cost system to automatically collect energy consumption data, including for electricity, water and gas. In addition, by collecting and managing data through the IoT platform, energy consumption has been reduced, supporting the realization of a green factory. - Building a big data analysis platform
This system aggregates and centralizes the manufacturing progress data collected through the IoT platform, such as from sensors. This aggregated big data is processed and analyzed in real time under advanced security, enabling the detection of warning signs of problems in manufacturing equipment. - Building a system for visualizing efficiencies throughout the factory
Using FUJITSU Enterprise Application Intelligent Dashboard, Fujitsu Limited’s solution that supports the overall optimization of factories, with the big data analysis platform, this system displays important key performance indicators, such as manufacturing, energy consumption, quality, facilities status, and expenses, in an integrated fashion. At the same time, it monitors the status of the production lines in real time, visualizing the efficiency of the factory as a whole. - Establishing standards for evaluating the degree of maturity of the smart factory
Fujitsu assisted in formulating standards and an evaluation model for the degree of maturity of INESA Group’s smart factory using the three criteria of technology, implementation, and integration, based on INESA Group’s definitions and goals for smart manufacturing. In addition, during this smart manufacturing model factory project with INESA Group, the companies are carrying out studies and evaluations, extracting content and technology common across the industry and standardizing it, aiming to popularize a shared INESA Group standard within the industry.
“Figure: The Intelligent Dashboard visualizing the operational status of production lines for the entire factory (Location: Central monitoring room in INESA Display Materials Co., Ltd.’s color-filter manufacturing plant).”
Using the Fujitsu Limited Intelligent Dashboard to visualize efficiency for the factory as a whole, managers can control the operational status of the manufacturing lines across the entire factory from the factory’s central monitoring room. The project’s first stage of development has now gone online, and is already producing results in actual production management. For example, a great deal of time used to be spent on such tasks as collecting production status and statistical data, but with Fujitsu’s Intelligent Dashboard, it has become possible to intuitively grasp the situation. This can be expected to play a significant role in improvements in productivity and management going forward.
Owing to its cutting-edge technologies and as a model initiative for the industry, this project was chosen as a Smart Factory Model Project for 2016 in an evaluation by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Fujitsu and INESA Group will continue to contribute to the digital transformation in China’s manufacturing industry going forward.
In addition, the three companies, as strategic partners, will spread this successful model to more manufacturing companies in China, working together to achieve the goals of “Made in China 2025.”
Comment from Cai Xiaoqing, President of INESA Group
INESA Group is focusing its efforts on creating smart factories, positioning this business as a core infrastructure business supporting INESA Group’s smart cities, while also advancing initiatives in our factories.
Through this project, by working with Fujitsu, I believe we will meet the business transformation needs of our many customers in the manufacturing industry, and contribute to transforming the manufacturing industry of China.
[1] Made in China 2025
On May 8, 2015, China’s State Council unveiled its first 10-year national plan for transforming China’s manufacturing, entitled “Made in China 2025.” The plan is designed to put China on a new path to industrialization, with greater emphasis on innovation, expanded use of new-generation information technology, intelligent manufacturing, consolidation of the industrial base, integration of industrial processes and systems, and a robust multilayer talent development structure. Measures taken in this respect will facilitate China’s transformation from a manufacturing giant with a focus on quantity to one with a qualitative edge.
About Fujitsu Ltd
Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 159,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited reported consolidated revenues of 4.7 trillion yen (US$41 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.
* Please see this press release, with images, at:
http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/
